Lever mechanism



2 Sheets- Sheet 1.

(Model.) L. HUEPNER.

LEVER MEGHANISM.

Patented Feb. 26, 1895.

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LEVER MBGHANISM.

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PATENT Ferca.

.LOUIS HOEPNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LEVER MECHANISM.

`SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,883, dated February 26, 1895.

Application filed September l5, 1894:. Serial No` 523,114.-- (Model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS HOEPNER, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Lever Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in lever mechanisms; `and the object of my invention is to produce a mechanism adapted for use in connection with levers of various kinds, being especially adapted for use in connection with vehicle poles and 1ifth-wheels, although it may be used for other purposes, as hereinafter specified.

A further object of my invention is to produce a simple and substantial mechanism which will give the lever a yielding connection with an adjacent part such as a fifthwheel ora notched quadrant, so that the lever will be held normally in a rigid position but will yield and slip before anything is broken or seriously strained.

Another object of my invention is to construct the lever attachments in such a way that they are not likely to get displaced, broken or out of repair.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken plan view of my improved mechanism as applied to a iifth-whee1 and vehicle pole, the pole in this case representing the lever. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken plan View, showing the pawl connection between the pole and the fifth Wheel. Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 4.-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. e is a detail longitudinal` section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, and shows particularly the means for holding the pawls in place. Fig. 6 is a broken plan view of the pawl and accessory mechanism as applied to a segmental fifth-wheel and the reach of a Wagon. Fig. 7 is a sectional side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6. Fig. 9 shows the application of my invention to a lever and quadrant; and Fig. 10 is a sectional edge view of the construction shown in Fig. 9.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the pole 10 constitutes the lever and is connected with the fifthwheel of a vehicle, as described below. The

` pole has, at its rear end and upper side, a Wear plate ll which is bolted firmly to the pole and .projects beyond the rear end of the pole and is pivoted on the king bolt 12 which is held in the frame 13 which supports the fifth-wheel of the vehicle in the usual way. On the Wear plate 1l is the draft bar 15, which .at its rear end has a hub 14 journaled on the king bolt l2, and the bar extends forward above the pole 10 and is provided with a recess 16 adapted to receive the circle 17 and the fifthwheelvl8 above it, the recess being also wide enough to receive certain other mechanisms to be hereinafter described. The draft bar has a raised and curved shoulder 15L which fits against the inner sides of the circle 17 and fifth-wheel 18, so as to guide the same. The circle is bolted to the draft bar and the fth wheel 18 rides on it and carries the frame 19 of the wagon box 20, this frame being fastened to the fifth-wheel in the customary way.

The fifth-wheel 18 is provided with a notched or toothed outer edge to engage the pawls to be presently described, and in the recess 16 opposite the edge of the iifth-wheel is a guide block 2l which is carried by a plate 22, this plate straddling the draft bar 15, as shown in Fig. 4, and being bolted to a cross plate 23 which projects through side openings 24c in the iianges 25 which depend from opposite sides of the draft bar l5 and loosely embrace the pole 10, as shown in Fig. 4, thus limiting the swing of the pole but permitting it to have all necessary movement.

The front end of the draft bar 15 terminates in a head 26 which has a rearwardly-projecting abutment 27 Which comes opposite the guide block 21, and in opposite sides of the head are vertical recesses 28 with rounded walls, these recesses being adapted to receive the enlarged heads 29 of the pawls 30, which diverge from the head 26 and extend rearward so as to engage the teeth of the fifthwheel 18, and the pawls have lugs 3l on their inner sides which, by coming into engage` ment with the guide block 21, prevent the IOO pawls from being thrown too far inward. The pawls are pressed into engagement with the Wheel by springs 32 which are secured to the opposite sides of the head 26, and the pawls are prevented from being displaced by the plate 33 whichV covers the recess 16 and is fastened to the head 26. The head 26 is slotted in front, as shown at 34, and provided with a vertical bolt hole 35, so that an ordinary double-tree may be conveniently fastened in the slot of the head, and thus when the vehicle is drawn the draft cornes entirely on the bar and the king bolt, and the other parts of the mechanism, including the pole or lever, are in nowise strained.

It will be seen that the pole and draft bar have a limited movement in relation to each other and that if the pole be turned to the right or left to turn the vehicle one of the pawls Will be released, by the guid'e block 21, from the fifth-Wheel and the latter will not be moved, and when the limiting Iianges comein contact with the pole, the pole and draft bar continue to move so as to turn the axle in the ordinary Way while the fifth-wheel remains stationary. The pawls serve normally to hold the fifth-wheel and pole steady, but from the above description it will be seen that any sudden violent movements of the axle and pole are not transferred to the fth wheel and to the vehicle.

In Figs. 6 to 8 I have shown the pole applied to a reach Wagon and to a segmental fifth-wheel. The pole 10, in this case, has the wear plate 11 bolted and pivoted by the bolt l1a to the draft bar 15 which is recessed, as already described, and is also provided with the flanges to embrace the pole. The draft bar has also, at its rear end, a block 36 which is fastened on the axle 37 of the vehicle, and the hub 38 of the segmental fifth-wheel 18 turns on the bolt 38 by which it is held to the rear end of the draft bar and to the axle. The segmental fifth-wheel 18n has teeth like the fifth-wheel 18 already described, and it has the rearwardly-extending central arm 39 and braces 40 which are secured to the reach 41 of the Wagon. It has also a spoke-like brace 42 extending from the hub 38 to the rim of the wheel, and on the Wheel is mounted the ordinary bolster 43.

The head of the draft bar -15, as applied to a segmental wheel, is substantially as already described, and the guide block 21 for the pawls is formed on a cross bar 44 which extends across the draft bar and has depending arms 45 which are screw threaded, at their lower ends, and are fastened to a second cross bar 46 which extends beneath the tongue and thus holds the upper cross bar 44 and the guide block 21 in place. The pole in this case operates substantially as above described, and the pawls, by engaging the segmental fifthwheel, holding the ifth-Wheel and pole in proper relation, but it will be seen that in this case the circle is dispensed with, but to make the apparatus suiciently strong and provide in part for the lack of the circle, braces 47 are used which extend from the axle to lugs 48 on opposite sides of the draft bar.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown a lever 10 adapted for use in connection with a quadrant 18, Which is exactly like the segmental fifth-wheel 18a, and this lever is adapted for use on various machines Where it is necessary to move certain parts and hold them temporarily in position. The lever 10a is, at its lower end, pivoted, as shown at 49, to a lever arm 50 which lies parallel with the lever 1.0*L and is fulcrumed, as shown at 51, to a suitable support and is also provided with a crank 52 which may be connected with any parts to be operated, or the connection may be in ade with the lever arm in any other convenient manner.

The lever 10a is provided with an offset 53 and the lever arm 50 is provided with an offset 54, opposite the oifset 53, so that between the two parts of the lever a recess is formed to receive the quadrant 18b and the ratchet mechanism therewith, While to facilitate the smooth working of the lever it has the arm 50 provided with a smooth shoulder 55 which works on the inner side of the quadrant. The upper end of the lever arm 50 is held to the lever 10a by a clamping plate 56, as shown clearly in Fig. 10. In the recess of the lever is a head 57 corresponding to the head 26 already described, and this has side anges 58 to prevent its displacement and abut with the lever 10 and the head carries pawls 30a which are hung in the head like the pawls 30 already described, and the pawls are pressed into engagement with the quadrant by iiat springs 32 on the sides of the head. The pawls lare prevented from being pushed in too far by a guide block 59 which is bolted to the lever 10a and is held in the recess 0f the lever between the pawls and beneath the head 57.

The lever is held in position by the pawls, but when moved to one side it rst swings on the pivot 49 independently of the arm 50 carrying the pawls, the guide block 59 striking and releasing one of the pawls, and when the lever brings up against one of the flanges 58, the arm 50 is moved.

It will be seen that the arm 50 corresponds to the draft bar 15 already described, and in the claims I shall use the term draft bar intending to include the arm 50.

I have shown and described the lever in the form of a pole connected with the fth- Wheels, but it will be seen that the fifth-wheels and the quadrant have the same relation to the lever, and in the claims therefore I shall refer to the aforesaid parts of the apparatus as a lever and quadrants.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The combinatiomwith the notched quadrant and the lever swinging on the quadrant,

IOS

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of the draft bar hung on the same pivot with the lever and provided with a recess to receive the quadrant, a means for limiting the relative movement of the draft bar and the lever, a head on the draft bar, diverging spring-pressed pawls on the head to engage the quadrant, and a guide block held between the pawls, substantially as described.

2. The combination, With the notched quadrant, of the lever arranged to swing opposite the quadrant, the draft bar hung at the center of the quadrant and provided with a recess to receive the quadrant, limiting flanges on the draft bar to engage the lever, a head on the draft bar, pawls journaled on the head and adapted to engage the quadrant, a cross bar havinga guide block held between'the pawls, a second cross bar extending beneath the draft bar, and means for fastening the two cross bars together, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the notched quadrant, ofthe lever pivoted at the center of the quadrant, the draft bar hung on the same pivot as the lever and provided with a recess to receive the quadrant and with a shoulder to abut with the inner edge of the quadrant, a head on the draft bar, .diverging springpressed pawls journaled in the head to engage the quadrant, a guide block held between the paWls, and means for clamping the guide block to the lever, substantially as described.

LOUIS HOEPNER. Witnesses:

WARREN B. HUToHINsoN, C. SEDGWICK. 

